School Safety Summit To Be Held In Burlington

The summit will be Oct. 24 and 25 at Cafe Escadrille in Burlington.

Safe and Sound Schools was founded by parents Michele Gay, mother of Josephine Grace Gay, and Alissa Parker, mother of Emilie Parker. Both women lost their daughters in the Dec. 14, 2012 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

They founded Safe and Sound Schools, a non-profit school safety advocacy and resource center that provides research-based tools and support for crisis prevention, response, and recovery.

The organization's mission is to help to "protect every school, every student, every day."

"The Northeast School Safety Summit is attracting attention well beyond Massachusetts, with participants from fifteen regional states, as well as the South and Midwest," Gay said in a statement. "This interest emphasizes the national relevance of our speakers and school safety experts, while highlighting the critical need for this information in K-12 communities. The Burlington Police Department and our local partners are providing an invaluable service by offering access to these essential resources and trainings right in their backyard. They are true champions of this effort, and we look forward to an impactful event this October."

Police Chief Thomas Browne said in a statement: "We are proud to be hosting this summit to better train our own officers, as well as our law enforcement partners from across the region and country to keep our students safe and secure. This summit will be a major resource for not only our department, but for law enforcement and school officials around the region."